Ments



I. B. GENTILE.

SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I9. I917.

1 ,3 1 4,074. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

F igi K3 7 Invenfiw, 3 John/B. Gen le;

L a nay.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. GENTILE, 0F MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGN'OR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, 0F TWO-FIFTHS TO CARL GUST DAVIDSON AN'D TWO-FIFTHS TO JOSEPH IBARILE, BOTH 0F MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE,

SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 19, 1917. Serial No. 155,655.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. GENTILE, a subject of the King of Italy, and a resident of Manchester, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

The object of this invention is the construction of a so-called one-piece shoe,that is, one wherein the upper is out in a single piece,embodying the following features. In the first place, when a shoe is made with a seam running up the heel, especially a low shoe, the seam is frequently burst open during the removal of the last, or at any rate it will be so weakened as to soon wear through. Hence I am making the one-piece shoe without such a seam in the heel.

Further, in shoes which I have previously made, such as those set forth in Design Patents 49,60 1 and 49,605, the opening and buttons or lacings are at one side of the foot; While this makes a desirable shoe, many people prefer to have the fastenings over the instep.

My purpose, therefore, is to make a shoe which shall have no seem at the heel, and which shall have its buttons or lacings over the instep, while retaining the advantages of a one-piece upper. To this end, I have the only seam uniting the ends of the upper to each other, extending from the lower end of the lacing-opening rearward and downward to a point a short distance in front of the heel.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1. is a plan view of a shoe embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the upper as first shaped.

The upper, as originally out, is shown in Fig. 3 upon a considerably reduced scale, and comprises a body portion 1 which is designed to compose the heel of the shoe-upper, an elbow 2 for the toe of the upper, an arm 3 terminating the elbow, and an arm 4 terminating the body portion opposite to the elbow. The edge 6 extending from 6 to 6 is stitched to the sole 7 and the two reverse curved edges 9 and 10 are. stitched together to complete the upper. Eyelets 11 are formed near the edges 12 and 13 for lacing the shoe snugly upon the foot of the wearer.

As shown in Fig. 1, the seam 14 formed by stitching the edges 9 and 10 together is preferably disposed at the inner side of each shoe for the following reason. I have found that with many people the small point of bone projecting laterally from the outer side of the foot a little to the rear of the middle thereof, is very liable to cause injury to the cuticle between it and the surface of the shoe. In certain cases, a troublesome corn is there formed. In each instance, however, I discovered that this injury arose because of the seam thereat with which so many low-cut shoes were formed,-

the seam being much less yielding than the remainder of the upper.

I then conceived that by making the upper with but a single seam, and that on the inner side of the foot where there were no such bones, a shoe could be made which would possess all the style and finish of the finest low cut shoe, but which would not injure the wearer in the manner above described.

In addition to thus adding to the comfort of the feet, these one-piece shoes give them a style and elegance which appeal to the most fastidious of customers.

Although I have illustrated my invention as applied to a low cut shoe, it can be embodied in high shoes or boots, and for either men, women or children.

WVhat I claim is:

A shoe comprising a single piece of leather cut in the general shape of a capital letter J, the edge of the upper extremity of the stem of the same and the edge of the hook-portion facing the stem being of like curvature, and such line of curvature being a double-reverse curve, the edge of the stem portion facing the hook portion having its intermediate portion deeply concave, both this concave edge and the opposite edge of the stem being substantially concentric, said concave edge forming the shoe-opening when this piece of leather has been stitched together and attached to a. sole.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of March, 1917.

JOHN B. GENTILE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919. 

